|
|
|
My trip to Mendoza was the last trip I have planned for awhile. We were suposed to go to an estancia yesterday with ISA but it was cancelled because of rain. Just for the record, it didn't rain yesterday. Anyways, being in the city for a longer period of time means that I have more time to walk around and discover things. I plan on knowing the whole city (or at least my barrio) like the back of my hand before I leave.
Tuesday night we went out to Acabar. It's a pretty big bar but I really like it because they have board games there to play. That's what people come there for. It's really fun inside, kind of an eclectic aproach to decorating and when you add in the games it's a guaranteed good time. I really like going into a place that's filled with laughter and excitement that stems from something as child-like as a game ofJenga.
Thursday I had no class so I decided to spend the day walking around. It was such a beautiful day too! The temperature was in the high 70s at least and finally, the sun was out. I ended up walking at least 500 blocks before meeting my friends for lunch. And of course, I still had to get home. It was definitely my biggest walking day but, I think it served me well. I feel like I get the layout of the city more. It's something you don't figure out when you're always taking taxis or the subte.
On Friday, we went to the zoo. The zoo is home to a white lion. As you can imagine, this is a big attraction. I mean, have you ever seen a white lion? So, we were all pretty excited to go. Before we got to the main attraction we walked through the rest of the zoo. There were beautiful tropical birds, elephants, giraffes and...llamas. One of my friends was told that there was a deformed llama at the zoo with crazy teeth. We kind of laughed it off and when we got to the guanaco (a very llama-like animal) cage we saw this really skinny little llama. The more we watched him, the more we wondered if this was the one we were supposed to be looking for. We realized that it was walking sideways because it only had one eyeball and if it didn't walk sideways it couldn't see us. Having thought we had found the poor guy we moved on to the llama pen. Well, let me tell you, that guanaco was not the one. In the llama cage we found a llama with the crookedest mouth you will ever see. I know this makes me (and all my friends) a bad person but, I could not stop laughing at it. It just looked at us like it was the king of the pen and it had no idea that it looked a little funny. Truly, I had tears running down my face. I guess it's kind of like a guilty pleasure, you know you shouldn't be laughing at it but you just can't help it. Anyways...on to the great white lion! We finally got to the lion's cage and looked around for it. Well, it turns out we didn't notice it because it wasn't glaming from high upon a cliff with rippling muscles as the promotional pictures suggested. It was actually a dingy yellowish-cream color and just sleeping in the shade. It was a pretty big disappointment. But, I guess the llama made up for it!
That night it was my friends birthday so we all went out to celebrate. On Saturday morning, after not much sleep, I was off to have a most wonderful and relaxing massage. It was only 80 pesos which is less than 30 dollars. And it was a pretty good one. Despite the bargain basement price we're going to look for a cheaper place next time. Rumor has it you can get them for only 40 pesos. Last night, I went to my first movie here. It was called "Preguntale al Viento". Sadly, it was an American film, produced by Tom Cruise, in English with Spanish subtitles. Next time we're looking for something more local.
Well, I'm off to MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires). After that who knows. I guess I still have a lot of the city left to explore!
previous travel blog entryComments or Questions for the Author
Your American Mama says:
Thanks for the anniversary wishes! Our trip to Argentina was one of the best vacations we've ever had; reading your entries makes me realize how much we missed even after a very busy two-week visit. Loved the llama and lion stories, and I'm ready to read more!
Chris mom says:
Hi Kate We are following your adventures. Hope all is going well.